


A Little Night Music

by EmboldenedBirdbrain



Category: Stargate (1994), Stargate - All Media Types, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Classical Music, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, Short One Shot, Snippets, Vignette, daniel is good at too many things, post S1e12, so naturally I added another one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 22:41:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29625102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmboldenedBirdbrain/pseuds/EmboldenedBirdbrain
Summary: Jack sleeps more lightly than usual and helps Daniel come off of a nightmare.Post "Fire and Water," in which Daniel is crashing at Jack's place until he can get his apartment back.
Relationships: Daniel Jackson/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	A Little Night Music

Of course Daniel Jackson can play the piano.

Of all the nerdy hobbies a person might pick up, this has to be the nerdiest besides chess; or at least, that’s what Jack figures. Really, it makes complete sense that Daniel can do it, he just didn’t expect him to be this damn  _ good  _ at it. He just wishes he didn’t have to find out at 4:30 in the morning.

He debates just trying to go back to sleep. Really, he should have been sleeping like a rock anyway. The bright melody of whatever Daniel’s playing is quiet enough that it shouldn’t have woken him. Who knows? Maybe he’s been doing this since he moved in with Jack, and Jack never noticed.

Whatever the case, his instinct is to just go downstairs and tell Daniel to quit the racket and go to bed.

He starts down the stairs to do just that, following the sound to the den. Daniel is hunched over the electronic keyboard Jack got for Christmas when he was fourteen, facing away from the doorway. He’s playing whatever classical piece he’s playing as if his life depends on it, his hair swinging wildly from side to side. 

Jack honestly doesn’t know why he keeps that old thing in the house. He briefly tried to teach himself one winter when it got too cold to do any stargazing on his roof, but got so frustrated with it he’d chucked the songbook he had into the fireplace. Which means Daniel is playing this, whatever it is, from memory.

He looks at the time. 0435 hours. His brief awe at Daniel’s piano skills is cut through by irritation tinged with worry. He and Daniel both have to be at the SGC early tomorrow- or rather, today- and he’d rather not fall asleep in the middle of an important briefing. 

“Having a little trouble sleeping?” he asks sardonically.

Daniel whips around on the stool, clearly shocked. “Jack- I didn’t realize-”

“What the hell are you still doing up?” Jack asks, making sure he sounds as thoroughly  _ done  _ as he is. Daniel stands, shutting off the keyboard. In the moonlight filtering through the window, Jack can see the puffiness surrounding Daniel’s eyes, and an odd gleam at their corners.  _ Are those tears? _

“I’m- I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was gonna wake you up. I mean, you’ve slept through a literal firefight; I just thought--”

“Alright, point taken.” Jack had, in fact, done that. He remembered Daniel’s fascination afterwards. (“ _ You could sleep anywhere,”  _ Daniel had remarked. Jack had simply responded “ _ You learn that pretty quickly in boot camp.” _ ) “For real, though, we have to be at the SGC at--”

“Seven thirty, I know. I… I couldn’t sleep.”

Jack understands now. Daniel’s had this problem for a while. “Nightmares?”

Daniel nods. “Yeah. Something like that.”

Jack thinks about it for a minute. They were going to have to get up soon anyway if they were going to make it to the SGC on time. There’s almost no point in going back to sleep now. And he’s never been good at the whole heart-to-heart thing, but there is one thing Jack O’Neill has got down pat. 

“What’re you playing?”

Daniel looks a little taken aback. Jack finds this amusing, if not endearing. But more importantly, he’s distracted.  _ Mission accomplished.  _

“ _ Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.  _ Well, not really; it wasn’t written for piano, but the melody isn’t exactly hard--”

“I’m guessing that title isn’t in English.”

“No,” Daniel responds. He’s coming back to himself, bit by bit. Jack just has to keep him talking, keep him out of his head, for a little while longer. “It’s, uh, German.  _ A Little Night Music. _ ” Daniel laughs. “I don’t know, it felt- appropriate.”

“I’m guessing you weren’t finished,” Jack says. 

Daniel shakes his head. “But you probably want to get back to sleep, right? It’s gotta be, what--”

“About four thirty in the morning.” Jack almost chuckles.

Daniel’s face drops. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry.”

Jack smiles. “Nah, it’s fine. We were both going to have to get up soon anyway. Why don’t you finish the song, you nerd?”

Daniel nods, his lips slightly parted like he’s not sure how to proceed. “Right….Is this one of those times where you’re being sarcastic so you can show me just how pissed off you are?”

Jack shakes his head. “Not this time. I really mean it. You woke me up for this damn song, after all; I wanna hear the rest of it.”

He pulls the chair over from his desk to show Daniel he’s serious. God, sometimes this man is less of an archaeologist with several Ph.Ds and more of a golden retriever with way more love to give than brain cells. 

Daniel turns the keyboard back on, hesitantly, and slowly lowers himself onto the stool. “Do you want me to start over?”

Jack nods. “Go for it.”

He watches as Daniel’s fingers find their positions over the keys, and the archaeologist’s eyes float a thousand miles into the wall in front of him, searching for the right notes. 

The piece is a lot, this early in the morning, but once Jack settles into it, it doesn’t seem so bad. And there’s something nice about seeing Daniel like this, swaying from side to side and nodding to the accents of the music. But Jack recognizes something about his playing that he’s seen in himself. There’s this desperate escapism, a need evident in Daniel’s posture to throw himself fully into something that takes up his whole mind and body. 

When the piece is finished, the sun has begun to shine through the trees. Jack puts one of his hands over Daniel’s, pulling the younger man gently out of his reverie.

“You alright, Dannyboy?”

Daniel nods, placing his other hand on Jack’s shoulder. “This is really selfish, but… I’m glad you woke up.”

Jack can’t help but smile at that. “You know what? Me too.” He glances out the window at the beginnings of the sunrise. "Guess I'd better go put on a pot of coffee, though, huh?"


End file.
